


And His Name Was?

by chibistarlyte



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Miscommunication, Partying, Twin Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-25 01:05:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3790861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibistarlyte/pseuds/chibistarlyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roxas, a senior in high school, is dragged to some college party by his twin brother, Sora. There, he meets and talks with a mysterious red-headed stranger...and is crushing hard. The only problem? Roxas doesn't even know his name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stupid Parties

**Author's Note:**

> Moved over from FFnet. :3
> 
> Yeah...truth be told, AkuRoku isn't my favourite pairing in the entire world, but I do enjoy writing it. ^^ So, I hope you enjoy this silly little story.

There were many other things that Roxas would have rather been doing on a Saturday night. He could be jamming out to his newest CD in his room, speakers blasting at full volume. He could be chilling with Hayner, Pence, and Olette at the arcade, fighting to be the champ at _Soul Calibur II_. Hell, he could even be doing homework…not that anyone ever did _that_ over the weekend. He could be watching TV, grabbing supper at a fast-food joint, writing the next great Italian opera, _something_ else…

He had no idea why he let his brother drag him to this ridiculous party. Worst. Idea. Ever. Roxas was definitely _not_ the partying type, and of course Sora _conveniently_ forgot to mention that it was a college party, making him feel even more uncomfortable, seeing as they were both high school seniors. This type of get-together meant obvious consumption of alcohol and some kinds of drugs. Which meant drunk and high teens and young adults with no lives. Which meant yelling and fighting and streaking and vomiting and just a bunch of other stuff that the blonde didn't particularly want to deal with. Unable to find his twin, he fought his way through the pulsing crowd toward the balcony on the second floor. He needed some air; the stench of pot and thumping of god-awful music was giving him a headache.

If Roxas has a quarter for every couple making out on the porch, he'd be stinking rich. He had to admit, it was considerably quieter outside. The sight of people sucking each others' faces off kind of repulsed him, though. His discomfort was made clear through his twisted expression, his tongue sticking out as if he had a particularly bad taste in his mouth.

"Disgusting, huh?"

Roxas jumped at the sound of the new voice, taken completely off guard. He spun around, finding no one behind him as he suspected there to be. He was the only person on the balcony not tying tongues with another. Where did the voice come from?

"Up here, Blondie," the voice said with a light chuckle.

Scowling at his new nickname, said blondie glanced straight above. His cerulean eyes met those of a glittering jade colour. They belonged to a male with spiky, flaming red hair that sprouted in all directions possible, in a messier display than his own golden locks…and _that_ was saying something. The stranger had small triangular tattoos beneath both of his eyes, though they were a bit difficult to see with his face cast in shadow. Nothing below his neck could be seen, for the rest of his body was hidden behind the edge of the roof.

…

Wait a minute. This guy was on the _roof_ …? How did he…?

The stranger smirked at the expression of bewilderment that had unconsciously made its way across Roxas' facial features, the corners of his upturned lips twitching in silent laughter. "The railing," he said simply, giving his head a nod toward the black metal framework that lined the second-story porch. "I'll help you up, mkay?"

Before the blonde could even blink, the redhead crawled across the roof, waiting for something. It took Roxas a minute to realize that a verbal invitation to join the guy on the roof had been sent his way. He shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of the side-effects of his momentary stupor. With a held-in breath, he squeezed behind one of the face-sucking couples and, ignoring all the moans and groans, clutched onto the wrought-iron rail. The green-eyed man extended his gloved hand to the high school boy, which he used as leverage to heave himself up onto the railing and to keep his balance. His small fingers gripped the weathered shingles and he struggled to pull himself up. He felt strong hands grip beneath his armpits and hoist him up.

A small laugh erupted from the redhead. "You look funny all sprawled out there, Blondie-"

"It's _Roxas_ ," the blonde immediately corrected, propping himself up on his elbows and scowled at his roof mate.

"Ha, alright. Sorry, Roxy."

Roxas groaned. At least it was better than 'Blondie.' Besides…Sora called him Roxy all the time. Of course that didn't mean he _liked_ it. Forcing himself up, he assumed a more comfortable sitting position, legs forming a diamond and hands clutching his ankles. Shy yet scrutinizing blue eyes glanced over to the snickering redhead. This guy had an amazing smile…wait! He didn't just think that! "So…," Roxas began, suddenly feeling extremely nervous, "why are you up here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the taller one said, a smile still lingering on his lips. "I got sick of being inside. Same as you, by the looks of it." Sea green eyes gazed languidly in Roxas' direction. "I'm not really the partying type." He swung his arm lazily over his knee, leaning back on his other elbow.

"Neither am I," Roxas admitted. "Why are you even here, then?" he blurted accusingly without thinking. Crap. He bit his lip, hoping his question didn't sound as rude as he thought it did.

"I could be asking you the same thing," the redhead retorted, though his voice gave no hint that he was angry or offended, to Roxas' relief. "My roommate forced me to come. Said I need to get out of the chem lab for once." He let out a dry chuckle that died off pretty quickly. "What about you?"

Rolling his eyes, the blond said, "My brother is the culprit. His boyfriend's cousin's friend of a friend's brother or whatever is holding this party, and so I was dragged here by consequence." He couldn't help the slight bitterness that settled in his voice as he spoke. Of course he still loved his twin to death, but the bubbly brunette had gotten the sassy blonde in trouble far more than he liked to remember.

The redhead let out another laugh. Roxas could never grow tired of the sound; it rang like soft bells in his ears. "That sucks. Who's your brother's boyfriend?"

"His name's Riku," the blonde said darkly. He didn't like the silver-haired college freshman all that much. Hearing a small "ah" in response, Roxas tilted his head to the side and blinked at his roof mate. "Why? Do you know 'im or something?"

The other male was now fully lying down on the rooftop, arms behind his head as a makeshift pillow, jade eyes cast skyward and lost in the myriad of stars. "I know _of_ him, but I've never met the guy. Zex talks about him sometimes…when he actually talks, that is," he added with another snicker. "I swear, that guy's eyeballs are going to melt out of his head with how much he reads. That, or his brain'll just implode on itself."

Roxas couldn't help but laugh, which was rare for him, being the sourpuss he normally was. Roxas wasn't the type to abandon his almost permanent scowl, so the fact that he barely knew this guy and was already smiling-laughing, even-around him was a huge deal. He contributed nothing more to the conversation, merely letting his new friend continue.

"Sometimes I don't know what Dem sees in him; Zex is a total bookworm brainiac nerd, and Dem, well…between you and me," the redhead paused, leaning up to whisper in Roxas' ear, like he was telling him some deep, dark secret, "Dem's kind of an idiot. He doesn't understand what Zex says half the time."

Both males let out a snort before falling into quiet, shoulder-shaking laughter.

"That's so nice to say about a friend," Roxas commented sarcastically, yet smiling at the same time.

The taller male resumed his former position of lying flat on the roof, hands behind his head. "Aw, hell, Dem knows he's an idiot. He doesn't care when we say it, because it's true."

"What's true, now?"

Roxas jumped at the new voice-what was it with people surprising him tonight? His cerulean irises glanced down past the edge of the roof, spotting a tall, lanky, mullet-haired man wearing a cross between a scowl and a pout. Roxas couldn't help but chuckle; whoever this guy was, he sure couldn't pull off that kind of expression. He looked rather silly. And what the _hell_ was with that hairdo?

The redhead forced himself to sit upright, a smirk playing across his wonderfully delicious-looking lips (wait, had Roxas just thought that?). "I was just telling Roxy here that you're a moron, Dem-Dem," he said as casually as ever, gesturing to the blond to his left, who cringed at his dreadful nickname.

Whatever trace of a scowl that had been present on Dem's face vanished completely. Now it was just a full-on pout. "Oh yeah? You forgot to mention to Roxy," another cringe, "that you're a big, fat meanie, Mister Poophead!"

…Had a college student seriously just used the term 'poophead,' or was Roxas high from all the marijuana fumes?

At this, Roxas' roof mate just laughed. "Must've slipped my mind."

Mullet Man let out a growl-slash-sigh-slash-indistinguishable noise at that, folding his arms across his chest. "Well, stop making fun of me and get your big, fat, meanie butt down here. I have work early tomorrow, and I'm your ride tonight." A cruel smile crossed the man's lips. "Unless you want to walk all the way back downtown. Or hitchhike and get raped."

The redhead let out an exasperated sigh, almost too lazy to exert the force needed to sit upright. "All right, all right, I'm comin'," he said, shaking his head before glancing over to Roxas. "Gotta jet. Nice talking to you, Roxy." He spared a wink as he scooted toward the edge of the roof. In one fluid motion, he leapt off the roof and landed gracefully on the balcony, scaring the bejeebus out of his ride home.

"Let's just go, already, meanie," Dem huffed, dragging his friend back inside the house.

Roxas was sad to see the redhead go. He really enjoyed talking to him, however short their conversation may have been. To think that he wasn't the only one that hated social gatherings like this…it made him happy. Happy enough to let loose a small smile on his usually frowning lips. His heart fluttered in his chest.

It wasn't two minutes later that he heard his twin calling his name, saying that it was time to leave this godforsaken place.

* * *

Riku sped off down the street in his old piece-of-shit car, and Sora slammed the door shut as soon as his boyfriend's vehicle disappeared from sight. Roxas was in the middle of untying his shoes when his twin glomped him, knocking him on the floor.

"Oh, Roxas, I had so much fun tonight!" the brunette squealed.

"Shush!" Roxas hissed, trying to ignore the pain of his brother's weight crushing him to the tile in the entry way. "Do you want to wake Dad up?"

"Oops…sorry!" Sora apologized in an enthusiastic whisper, hopping off his brother as harmlessly as he could. Roxas was sure he'd have some new bruises come morning. "Anyway," the bubbly boy continued, hanging his jacket on the coat rack. "Didja have fun? Didja meet anyone?"

The blonde's cheeks flared bright pink, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, um…I…," he stuttered, obviously flustered.

Sora took the opportunity to tease his younger brother (by two minutes; he never let Roxas live it down), complete with oohs and ahhs and Roxy's-got-a-crush-es. He toned down the taunting after a minute or so, and instead opted to stare Roxas right in his pair of matching eyes, his face so close to the blonde's that their noses were almost touching. "Well? Who was it?"

"A-a college guy," Roxas muttered, and he could swear his ear drums would break from his brother squealing. Obviously, the brunette had no respect for their sleeping father.

"What was his name?" Sora asked, jumping up and down excitedly.

It was then that Roxas deadpanned. He paled, his gaze going blank and eyes growing wide.

"I… _I NEVER ASKED HIS NAME!"_


	2. Bus Rides and Happy Endings

Blue eyes stared gloomily at the oatmeal in his breakfast bowl, a spoon shoveling the mush out and dropping it back in with a disgusting plop. Why did he have to be such an _idiot_? Wasn't it common courtesy, _basic manners of conversation_ , that names be exchanged upon introduction? How the _hell_ did he forget to ask the man's name?

"Cheer up, Roxas," the brunette twin, Sora, said as he finished off his blueberry cinnamon bagel. "Maybe you were just too infatuated to think straight," he offered.

Roxas stared at his brother with dead eyes. He knew Sora was trying to help him feel better, but it just made him feel worse. "Or I'm just _stupid_ ; that sounds about right."

Heaving an aggravated sigh, the brunette rose form his chair and popped a squat on the chair next to his blonde twin. "Look," he started, wrapping his arm around Roxas' shoulders, "we all make mistakes. And…I know you really like him, but if it's meant to be, you'll see him again, all right?" He gave Roxas a reassuring squeeze. "Now, go get ready. Riku and I are going to the mall, and you're coming with us."

Roxas couldn't hide his grimace. "Do I _have_ to?" he whined. The last thing he wanted to do while being depressed and mopey was hang out with _Riku_ all day.

"Yes," Sora replied firmly. "You need to get out of the house more."

"But I got out of the house last night," Roxas pointed out, slightly smirking.

"Just come _on_! Riku'll be here in an hour!" Sora prodded with a giggle, and the twins raced up the stairs to get ready.

* * *

Roxas dug his hands into the pocket of his black and white checkered hoodie, lazily scanning all of the shops he passed. He didn't even know why Sora wanted him to come along anyway-he and Riku had left the blonde far behind by now, off in their own lovey-dovey boyfriend world. He could have been off in a lovey-dovey boyfriend world, too, if he weren't so stupid as to forget to ask that guy's name last night at the party.

…Okay, so he was still beating himself up over it, and seeing all the couples walk by him didn't help matters much. But what could he do?

Roxas meandered into some music shop-Freeshooter Records, or something lame like that-and decided to browse through the shelf with all the newest CDs, to help get his mind off of things. Sampling a shitload of music just might be mind-numbing enough for that. He tried to recall of some the bands his friends had tried to force him to listen to before. There were so many to chose from: Kingdom Key, Organization XIII (did they really have thirteen members?), Birth By Sleep, Final Mix Plus…

A certain CD case caught his roaming sapphire eyes. Upon examination, he discovered it was the latest album from a rock and metal band called Shinra. Hayner had mentioned them once or twice, but Roxas had never really listened to them before. He flipped the plastic case over to read through the list of songs, where they had a picture of the band on the back cover. Roxas deadpanned.

God damn it, why _everything_ have to remind him of that guy? Shinra's drummer, a redhead named Reno with a sly grin, could pass off as that guy's twin, the blonde was absolutely sure.

Looking around suspiciously, as if here were about to commit a crime, Roxas hurriedly made his way to the checkout counter to purchase the album. He wordlessly slid the CD case across the counter to the cashier, eyes downcast. He was pathetic.

"Never did peg you as a Shinra fan, Roxy; I figured you'd be more into boy bands, or someone like Jesse McCartney," said the cashier with a giggle.

The blonde's heart stopped. Oh, crap, he'd been caught!

…Wait, how did the guy know his oh-so-loathed nickname?

"It's not for-" he started defending himself, looking up at the cashier. His eyes widened and a smile almost lit up his face, if it weren't for the shock that took place instead. Blue eyes a bit brighter than his were staring back at him. The man had a 100-watt smile and a ridiculous hairdo that Roxas would recognize anywhere. The blonde knew _exactly_ who it was. "Dem-yx?" he added slowly, actually taking quick note of the man's sticker-decorated nametag.

"The one and only," Demyx said as he scanned the barcode of the CD with his laser gun. "What brings you to the mall on this lovely Sunday?"

Roxas dig through his wallet for some cash to pay for his compulsive purchase. "Just wanted to get out of the house," he lied, shoving twenty munny across the counter. Demyx picked up the coins and counted them before ringing them into the register.

"You know, he wouldn't shut up about you last night," Demyx said offhandedly, handing Roxas his change.

"…Who?"

Mullet man smiled brightly. "Who do you think?" he said with a laugh. "My mister poophead of a roommate. He talked about you all the way home, and even after that. It was, 'Roxy this,' and, 'Roxy that.' It was kind of annoying, but cute at the same time. Do you want a bag for your CD?"

It took Roxas a minute to process what Demyx had said, before he shook his head vigorously. "N-no, it's not necessary…wait…he talked about me?" He was almost too stunned to speak. That guy…he…

"All freakin' night," Demyx affirmed, with a nod to punctuate his point. "And trust me, I've known him since we were kids-he never gets that excited about _anyone_. I think he likes you." An even bigger, more radiant smile lit up the college kid's face. Roxas blushed hardcore, the colour of his face rivaling the vibrant hue of his crush's hair.

"He… _likes_ me?" the blonde squeaked. His fingers snaked up his cheeks, trying to cover the embarrassing red tinge taking over his entire face.

"I would definitely say so!" the mullet-haired one said with utmost certainty. "Dude, I can give you his number or something if you-"

"YES!" Roxas interrupted, practically jumping over the counter to glomp Demyx. "Please, give me his number!" He yanked his phone out of his jeans pocket, thumb at the ready to key in numbers.

Demyx paused for a moment, as if rethinking his offer. "Well, actually, now that I think about it, it would be pretty useless to give you his number, since the dummy face dropped his phone in the toilet two days ago and hasn't gotten a new one yet." He laughed nervously, but suddenly fell silent as Roxas deflated like a squished balloon. "Tell you what, dude, I'll give you our address and directions to our apartment. He should be home today. You can get there easy by bus-there's a stop like, a block away from our place."

Roxas could have kissed Demyx, right then and there. "You have no idea how much I would love you for that," he blurted out, too anxious and excited to care what stupidity happened to spill from his mouth.

"Sorry, Roxy; I'm already taken," Demyx joked as he jotted down his address and directions on a spare piece of receipt tape. "Take the 138 bus route-it'll go straight down to Nocturne Avenue, which is where you wanna get off. Go left one block to Flurry Street, and it'll be building 69813, apartment 9D. But of course, that's all written here," he instructed, handing the antsy blonde the strip of paper. "My number's also there if you get lost. You can call me."

"Thank you sososososoSO much!" Roxas exclaimed, grabbing the paper as if he had to hold onto it for dear life. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I owe you big time!" he said, grabbing his Shinra CD from the counter. "I'll see you later, Demyx!" With that, he high-tailed it out of the shop, mission in hand and determination in his heart. He flipped his phone open and pressed the '2' key, speed dialing his twin brother.

" _What's up, Roxas? Where the heck did you run off to?"_ Sora asked as soon as he answered his phone. Roxas heard a faint, _"He ran of to be emo somewhere,"_ in the background-most likely that asshole Riku's comment from the peanut gallery.

"Just a random store. But listen, Sora. I have somewhere I have to go. Tell Dad I went out with Hayner, and I'll be back by dinner," the blonde urged his twin, his grip tight on his cell phone as he exited the sliding doors of the mall. The wind had picked up a bit since he'd last been outside, assaulting him with cold gusts and blowing clouds in from the west.

" _Whoa, whoa. Okay, sure, but_ where _are you going?"_ Sora asked, concern laced in his voice.

Roxas smiled as he continued his trek to the bus station right outside the mall. "I'm going to meet my crush."

* * *

" _This is route 138 to downtown Twilight Town , destination Sunset Boulevard. Next stop, Diviner Road."_

Staring intently at the plastic case of his new CD, Roxas slid down in his bus seat-which was terribly uncomfortable and smelly, to his dismay-and ran through several scenarios in his head. Here he was, riding a dirty old city bus all the way into downtown Twilight Town, just to meet up with a guy that he _still_ didn't know the name of (how idiotic of him not to ask Demyx!), but was majorly crushing on. Yeah. That sounded totally sane. He could just imagine the guy's reaction upon answering the door.

"Oh, hey, Roxy, long time no see! Come on in and I'll make you some coffee~"

"Uh, what the hell are you doing here, kid? How'd you find where I live? Are you a stalker?"

Or, he could just open the door, pause, then slam it in Roxas' face. He hoped it wouldn't come to _that_.

All the same, though, he was nervous as hell. And what the hell was he gonna do with this stupid CD? Unfortunately, Demyx had no idea how right he was about the blonde's taste in music, as much as the high school senior was reluctant to admit. Maybe he could give the CD to the guy as a present?

"Um, yeah…I bought you this CD because I thought the drummer looked like your clone."

Sure. That wouldn't be awkward at all.

Roxas face palmed.

" _Next stop, Nocturne Avenue."_

"That's me," Roxas told himself aloud, pulling the yellow cord above his head to alert the driver to stop. He gave a small nod to the dreadlocked man with super sideburns and disembarked from the sputtering metal monster. He fished the receipt paper from his pocket and studied the directions scrawled out in chicken scratch. Left one block to Flurry Street…69813, 9D…he'd basically memorized the whole thing on the hour-long bus ride down. Yet here he was, second guessing himself now that he was _almost there_. He was so close, he could practically hear the redhead's laughter ringing in his ears as he traversed through the crosswalk from Nocturne Avenue to Flurry Street. The building wasn't hard to find, thank goodness. Roxas stalled at the bottom step leading to the front door. His entire body trembled with hesitation until he shook his head. "Come on, moron," he chided himself, frowning. "You came this far already. Don't pussy out _now_."

Taking a deep breath, he ascended the stairs up to the front door of the tall, looming building. He tried the worn iron handle, finding that it was locked. Damn it. How were people supposed to get in, anyway? Sapphire irises glanced slightly to the right, locating a long list of apartment numbers and current tenants, all written next to faded off-white buttons. Above the top button was a speaker embedded into the wall.

"So, I guess I have to push this button and…," the blonde trailed off, scanning the list for a familiar name and apartment number. Bingo! Apartment 9D, Demyx O'Donohue. The first name of the person following Demyx's name was scratched out for some reason, leaving only the last name Flynn visible.

"You're just working against me, aren't you, Universe?" Roxas muttered as he pressed the button next to Demyx's apartment number. A faint buzzing could be heard from the speaker. Roxas waited.

No response.

He tried the button again after a minute.

Still, nothing.

He pressed it a third time.

No one.

Roxas flinched as he felt something cold and wet fall onto his cheek. Startled and curious, he looked up at the sky, which had grown much darker since he last paid attention. Droplets of water fell, scarce at first, then gradually coming down faster and faster. The blonde, crestfallen and dejected, spared one last look at the circular button before letting out a sigh and descending the old stone steps.

By the time Roxas returned to the bus stop, he was completely soaked through to the bone. He shivered uncontrollably as he sat on a bench, waiting for the next bus to take him back to dismal suburbia. What a fool he was, expecting something good to come out of this little expedition. He was so _stupid_ to think that this would be just like one of those cheesy romantic movies, that he'd meet with the guy of his dreams and they'd live happily ever after or whatever. He huffed, watching his breath condense into a white little cloud before dispersing in the pouring rain. Numb fingers squeezed the CD case before Roxas chucked it with all his frustration and anger into the street, watching a car run over it and completely shatter it with a satisfying _crunch_.

This was stupid. _He_ was stupid. And cold. And soaked. And miserable.

In fact, he was so busy brooding and being emo that he hadn't noticed the umbrella being held above his head, nor the person holding said umbrella over his head, shielding him from the relentless downpour.

"Fancy seeing you in these parts, Roxy."

An angry growl erupted from the blonde's throat. "My name's _NOT-"_

Upon seeing those glittering jade eyes, the spiked fiery locks, and the confident smirk on downright delicious lips, Roxas' heart stopped completely.

While he sat there, gaping, mouth hanging open like a drowning fish, the redhead decided to take a seat next to the high schooler, placing his grocery bag in his lap and holding his umbrella over the both of them. "What brings you all the way down here, hm?" he asked the younger.

After a few silent moments, Roxas finally remembered how to talk. "Uh…well…actually, um…," he stammered, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. His water-heavy hair clung annoyingly to his chilled skin. "I…I came to see you…," he admitted shyly, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. "And…and I wanna know your name!"

The elder man quirked a brow, his smirk disappearing beneath a look of pure curiosity. "You came all this way…just to see me?"

"Yes!" Roxas cried out, frustrated. "I know I'm just some stupid kid, and I probably sound really crazy right now, but I met your roommate and he told me where you lived so I could find you because I really like you and-"

"Don't get ahead of yourself there, kiddo," the redhead said gently, ruffling Roxas' drenched-and now flattened and floppy-golden spikes. "I'm flattered, really. And, truth is…I'm glad to see you."

Innocent blue eyes widened, regarding the man's face for any slight change in expression, any hint that he was just kidding. But he looked completely serious. "R-really?"

A small smile upturned the corners of the redhead's lips. "Yeah. I really like you Roxas," he confessed, leaning in closer to the surprised teen. "I would have given you my number last night if I had a working phone."

Roxas couldn't help but let out a light chuckle. "Heh. Demyx told me about the toilet."

"Demyx can't keep his mouth shut for two seconds," the elder man said, voice full of mirth. "By the way, Roxas…," he began, leaning in so close that his breath ghosted across the blonde's lips. "The name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Commit it to memory."

As their lips locked together in a sensual kiss, Roxas had a feeling that Axel's name wasn't the only thing of the redhead's he'd be committing to memory in the near future.


End file.
